Life as an expat suits most who leave Britain - the majority of overseas
residents can't ever see themselves returning home.

More than three-quarters of British expats would never return home out of choice, a study has revealed.

The research, carried out by financial advisory organisation the deVere Group, showed that 77 per cent of expatriates said they would only consider a permanent return to Britain if it became untenable to live overseas due to financial, health or family concerns.

A total of 653 people were polled in several global destinations popular with British expats, including Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Barcelona, Cape Town, Dubai, Hong Kong, Marbella, New York, Nice and Zurich.

Nigel Green, deVere’s chief executive, said: “The findings highlight that the dream of living and/or working overseas is alive and well.

“This poll underscores how regardless of whether people are drawn to a country because of its lifestyle or because of the career opportunities to be had, the vast majority consider themselves more content abroad than in the UK.

“Most of those interviewed said that it would take seriously poor health, a personal financial crisis or a family emergency for them to even think about moving back to Britain.”

The news comes after poll results released in May by another firm, Global Visas, showed that one third of those who leave Britain’s shores end up coming back earlier than intended.

A total of 1,246 expats who returned in the past year were questioned about why.

The top five explanations given by the participants - who were allowed to choose multiple reasons - were financial difficulties (62 per cent), homesickness (47 per cent), cultural differences (44 per cent), visa expiration (39 per cent) and lack of social interaction (27 per cent).

The deVere poll revealed that a better lifestyle or superior job prospects were the main factors motivating Britons to leave the country in the first place.

When it came to factors that would stop them returning home, the top three were Britain’s poor climate, high crime levels and high cost of living.

According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of British citizens who emigrated long-term in the 12 months up to September 2012 was 154,000. That was an eight per cent rise on the year before.